Here are the coronavirus evening headlines for Thursday, December 16, after the First Minister appeared before a scrutiny committee and met his cabinet at least twice to discuss what restrictions he will announce tomorrow.

Mark Drakeford was grilled by Senedd members over this Government's performance during the pandemic, especially in light of the emergence of the Omicron wave.

And the education minister wrote to school heads saying the new term will start two days late for all pupils in Wales to give time to plan for ongoing Covid disruption. Read what that means here.

And after the stark message from the PM, Professor Whitty, and Dr Nikki Kanani, at yesterday's press briefing that people should think carefully about their own social mixing over the coming weeks, the hospitality sector has called for more financial support.

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An announcement is expected later this evening, with First Minister Mark Drakeford giving a public briefing on Friday lunchtime to explain their decisions. Take a look here at the options that are available to him.

Nearly 100 cases of Omicron identified in Wales

Nearly 100 cases of the Omicron variant have now been found in Wales, it was confirmed today. New data from Public Health Wales showed that 33 more cases of the mutant strain have been identified in the last 24 hours to take the total to 95.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has by some distance the most with 33 followed by Betsi Cadwaladr UHB and Aneurin Bevan UHB with 15 each.

Read more about what Professor Whitty said on the Omicron variant here.

Start of school term in January delayed in Wales

Next term will start two days late for all pupils in Wales to give schools time to plan for ongoing Covid disruption.

Laying out plans for the start of term in a letter to headteachers, seen by WalesOnline, Education Minister Jeremy Miles said all pupils should return by January 10 and “where possible” pupils should be in school for lessons next term.

He added that the two planning days will also allow secondary schools to organise online learning, if needed, and for pupils to “safely sit” January GCSE exams which are due to start on January 11. Read how teachers and unions responded to the news here.

Mass cancellations for Welsh hospitality sector

A rapid rise in Omicron cases has led to a surge in booking cancellations across the hospitality industry

Restaurant, bar and pub owners across Wales have reported a "devastating" number of cancellations within the last week, as Omicron fears continue to mount and the number of cases rise.

On Thursday night, England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty recommended people prioritise on their most important social contacts this Christmas to reduce interactions, and ministers in Wales meet today to decide if more restrictions should be introduced here.

One restaurant owner said he's lost 60% of bookings for December in the last seven days, while another claimed that almost 3,200 reservations had been cancelled across his outlets.

Some have accused the Welsh Government of spreading "scaremongering" messages that have made people fearful to leave their homes, while providing no support to businesses that have subsequently lost customers.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales on Tuesday, December 14, Owen Morgan, co-owner of Bar 44 - which has restaurants in Penarth, Cardiff, and Cowbridge - said: "We are seeing mass, mass cancellations, ever since it was announced about the Stereophonics/Tom Jones gig being cancelled. It started that day, really.

"We've now had across the group 3,170 cancellations for the rest of December. That is where we're at - it's not small change, it's a lot of money."

WalesOnline spoke to four other restaurant owners across Cardiff and Swansea, who echoed the plight of Mr Morgan. Read more here.

UK breaks daily Covid infections record two days running

The UK detected a record 88,376 new Covid cases on Thursday, almost 10,000 more than yesterday’s record-breaking tally of 78,610 and jumping 67% from 53,067 two weeks ago.

It comes amid warnings from scientists that the UK will keep breaking records as the highly-transmissable Omicron variant rips through the population.

A further 146 people died with the virus in the past 24 hours, up from 141 two weeks ago.

Christina Pagel, director of UCL’s Clinical Operational Research Unit and an Independent SAGE member, told the Guardian: "In terms of the speed at which things are changing it’s like March 2020, I think you will see policy changing every few days as it grapples to catch up'

"We’re going to be breaking records every day for a week at least now – unless we do something."

Dr Pagel and Independent Sage are calling on the government to implement a circuit-breaker lockdown until December 24. She admits this prospect is unlikely with Christmas imminent and after the backbench rebellion to prime minister Boris Johnson’s Covid measures on Tuesday.

"But now is the time we can affect the peak," she said. "It’s burning through the population."

Daily hospital admissions may peak above levels seen last winter, before the vaccine roll-out, England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty told MPs on Thursday.

The 88,376 figure only counts lab-confirmed PCR cases. Dr Pagel said the actual figure is likely to be in the region of 200,000 new daily cases.

Pandemic could go on for another 18 months

Professor Chris Whitty explained why Omicron 'is going to be a problem'
Professor Chris Whitty explaining why Omicron 'is going to be a problem' at the Downing Street briefing on December 15

"Each six months will be better than the last six months," England's chief medical officer said today as he predicted it could be "possibly 18 months" until a wide range of vaccines covers all variants of the coronavirus.

Professor Chris Whitty said it is likely that Covid vaccines and anti-viral drugs will do "almost all of the heavy lifting" when it comes to tackling future strains - unless they are "extremely different".

He told the Commons Health and Social Care Committee: "If I project forward, I would anticipate in a number of years - possibly 18 months, possibly slightly less, possibly slightly more - that we will have polyvalent vaccines, which will cover a much wider range, and we will probably have several antivirals."

He added that "each six months will be better than the last six months" when it comes to fighting the virus.

"I think what will happen is the risks will gradually decrease over time. It's incremental, it's not a sudden thing," he said.

"But I think each six months will be better than the last six months. How fast that will be… it's always dangerous to predict science. It'll always be a problem, some years it will be a big problem."

Met Police to look into lockdown Christmas party

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it will contact two people who attended a pre-Christmas party at the Conservative Party headquarters in London during lockdown last year in relation to alleged breaches of coronavirus regulations.

The force said it was aware of a gathering at an address in Matthew Parker Street in London, where the Conservative party headquarters is based, on December 14, 2020.

The party was organised by Shaun Bailey’s London mayoral campaign team. On Wednesday, Mr Bailey stepped down from an official role in the London assembly after a photograph emerged of him joining a throng of people at the party amid the Covid lockdown in December last year. Mr Bailey has apologised “unreservedly” for the event.

The Met did not say who they were seeking to contact. In a statement, the force said: “Officers will be making contact with two people who attended in relation to alleged breaches of the health protection (coronavirus restrictions) regulations.”

The Met also said it is looking into staff gatherings at 10 Downing Street and the Department for Education in November and December 2020 and is in contact with the Cabinet Office, but will not open an investigation at this time.

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